uunc    university    Libraries 

Life  of  Lieut. 
Conf  Pam  12mo  #324 


LIFE 


OF 


HIT,  DIN.  THOMAS  J,  JACHOX. 


VOLUME  L 


BY 


REV.  R.  I,.  DABNEY,  D.  E>., 

?aorsssoR  of  systematic  and  polemic  theology  axd  sacred  r? 

IN    LNION    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY,    VA. 


GREENSBORO'.  N.  C: 

FUBLISUEL"  BY  STEELING.  CAMPBELL  AND  ALBRIGHT, 
RrotiMONu,  Va.,    W.  HAliOBATE  W1HTK. 
Columbia,  S.  C,  TOWN  SEND  &  SOUTH. 

1865. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  18415,  by 

STERLING,  CAMPBELL  AND  ALBRIGI1T, 

3n  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Confederate  States, 
for  the  District  of  Pamlico,  North-Carolina. 


W.   W.  HOLDEN,  Pkintbr,  Hakgett  St.,  Raleigh,  N.  0. 


PREFACE. 


No  pn?&ce  will  be  needed  by  tbe  people  of  tne  Confederate  States*  to 
j  ropitiat-  their  interest  in  a  memoir  of  their  beloved  and  lamented 
Jackson.  The  only  motive  for  supplying  this  customary  exordium  tomy 
book,  is  the  wish  to  answer  the  natural  question ;  what  grounds  I  may 
have  to  suppose  myself  qualified  for  the  task  I  ha-ve  undertaken.  And  my 
answer  ;i,-  that  it  has  been  entrusted  to  me  by  the  widow  and  family  of 
General  Jackson,  supported  by  the  urgency  of  bis  successor,  Lieut.  Sen. 
•well,  animauy  other  friends. 

One  advantage  for  my  work  I  may  claim,  which  brings  far  more  of 
responsibility  tbun  of  credit  to  me,  the  possession  of  the  fullest  collection 
of  materials.  The  correspondence  of  General  Jackson  with  his  family,  his 
pastor,  and  his  most  prominent  friends  in  public  life,  is  in  my  hands, 
together  ^itlv  copies  of  all  tbe  importaut  official  papers  on  file  in  the  War- 
Department  In  aidition  to  these  materials,  it  was  my  privilege  to  enjoy 
his  fries ifctrp,  although  not  under  bis  orders,  duriag  tbe  campaign  of 
Manassas,  in  1861  ;  tfnd  to  serve  under  him,  as  Chief  of  his  Staff;,  during 
the  memorable  campaign  of  the  Valley  and  tbe  Chickabominy,  in  13t>2;.  so 
that  I  had  personal  iMiowledge  of  the  events  -jo  which  the  structure  of  hi  a 
military  fame  was  Qtst  reared. 

The  most  prominent  trait  of  Jackson  was  bis  scrupulous  truthfulness, 
Th  s  life  has  been  written  under  the  profound  impression  that  no  quality 
could  bt  so  appropriate  as  this,  in  the  narrative  which  seeks  to  commem- 
orate his-  noble  character.  Hence,  tbe  most  laborious  pains  have  been 
taken  to  verify  every  foot;  and  to  give  the  story  in  its  sober  accuracy.  If 
it  presents- the  hero  without  any  of  those  bivirre  traits,  which  the  popular 
fancy  so  delights  to  throw  arouDd  its  special  favorites,  it  is  hoped  that  the 
pic* ure  will  be,  for  this  reasou,  more  symmetrical,  and  more  pleasing  to 
every  cultivated  mind,  if  not  so  startling.  The  reader  may  at  least  have 
the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  it  is  the  correct  picture;  save  that  no 
pencil  can  do  justice  to  bis  devoted  patriotism,  his  diligence,  bis  courage, 
and  the  Sanctity  of  his  morals. 

The  first  volume  is  now  presented  to  the  reader,  to  be  speedily  followed 
by  the  conclusion,- in  one  more  volume,  if  the  favor  of  Providence  permit. 
The  work  Las  already  beeu  delayed,  to  the  profound  ragret  of  tbe  author,. 
for  a  year,  by  the  difficulties  of  publication  in  our  dista-essed  country. 

KCMBSRT  L.  DABN'EY. 


DEDICATION. 


THIS    MEMOIR    OF 
THE    GREATEST    OF    Oltm    DEAD, 

IIS    DEDICATED    TO 

THE  GREATEST  OF  OUR  LIVING  GENERALS, 

ROBERT  E.  LEE9 

AS   AN   HUMBLE  TESTIMONIAL     OF     THE    CONFIDENCE   IN   HIM, 

AND    VENERATION    TOE    EIM, 

IMBIBED  FROM  ITS  SUBJECT, 

LIEUT.  GEN.  T.  J.  JACKSON, 

BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


ZJnion  Theological  Seminary, 
January,  18£A  1865. 


FATHER   OF   GENERAL   JACKSON.  13 

parents.  His  second  marriage  produced  nine  sons  and 
daughters.  His  first  wife,  by  birth  a  Hadden,  bore  hira 
three  sons,  George,  David,  and  Jonathan,  and  three 
daughters,  of  whom  one  married  a  gentleman  named 
White,  and  two,  respectable  farmers  of  German  extrac- 
tion, named  Brake.  Jonathan  Jackson,  the  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  work,  adopted  the  profession  of  law, 
having  pursued  his  preparatory  studies  in  the  family. 
and  under  the  guidance  of  his  distinguished  cousin,  Judge 
i  Jackson,  of  Clarksburg.  Hi6  patronage  induced  him  to 
go  to  that  place,  the  last  seat  of  his  forefather's  residence, 
to  prosecute  his  calling.  About  the  same  time  he  married 
Julia  Keale,  the  daughter  of  an  intelligent  merchant  in 
the  village  of  Parkersburg,  in  Wood  county,  on  the 
Ohio  river.  The  fruits  of  this  marriage  were  four  children; 
of  whom  the  eldest  was  named  Warren,  the  second  Eliza- 
beth, the  third  Thomas  Jonathan,  and  the  fourth,  Laura. 
Thomas  was  born  in  Clarksburg,  probably  about  the 
ginning  of  the  year  1S2±.  The  early  death  of  hia 
parents,  and  dispersion  of  the  little  family,  obliterated  the 
record  of  the  exact  date,  so  that  General  Jackson  him- 
self was  unable  to  tix  it  with  certainty.  Of  these  children 
none  now  live  save  the  youngest,  who  survives  as  a 
worthy  matron  in  Ttandolph  county, 

Jonathan  Jackson,  the  General's  father,  is  said  to  have 
been,  what  was  unusual  in  his  race,  a  man  of  short 
stature;  his  face  was  ruddy,  pleasing  and  intelligent; 
iiis  temper  genial  and  affectionate,  and  susceptible  of  the 
warmest  and  most  generous  attachments.  He  was  a  man 
of  strong,  distinct  understanding,  and  held  a  respectable 
rank  as  a  lawyer.  While,  he  displayed  little  of  the  pop- 
ular eloquence  of  the  advocate,  his  knowledge  and 
judgment  made  him  $  valued  counsellor,  and  his  chief 
distinction  was  as  a  chancery  lawyer.     JJis  patrimony 


14:  FATHEB  OF   GENERAL  JACKSON. 

was  adequate  to  ail  reasonable  -wants.-;  the  lands  which 
he  inherited  from  his  father  are  now -so  valuable  as  to 
confer  independence  on  their  ,present  owners.  But  a 
temper  too  social  and  facile  betrayed  him  into  some  of 
the  prevalent  dissipations  of  ;the  country,  incautious 
engagements  embarrassed  him  with  the  debts  of  his 
friends,  and  high  play  assisted  to  swallow  up  his  estate. 
He  at  length  became  dependent  wholly  upon  his  profes- 
sional labours,  which  yielded  his  family  only  a  mod- 
erate support,  while  he  owned  no  real  estate  but  the 
house  in  which  he  lived.  Not  very  long  after  the  birth 
of  his  fourth  child,  and  when  Thomas  was  three  years 
old,  his  daughter  Elizabeth  was  seized  with  a  malignant 
fever.  He  watched  her  .sick  bed  until  her  death,  with  a 
tender  assiduity,  which,  combined  with  his  grief  at  the 
bereavement,  an$  .perhaps,  with  his  business  troubles, 
prostrated  his  strength ;  and  within  a  fortnight  after  his 
daughter,  he  sunk,  by  the  same  disease,  into  a  premature 
grave.  This  unexpected  end  was  all  that  was  needed  to 
complete  the  ruin  6f  his  affairs.  Out  of  their  wreck 
absolutely  nothing  seems  to  have  been  saved  for  his 
widow  and  babes.  The  Masonic  Order,  of  which  Jona- 
than Jackson  was  an  officer,  gave  to  the  widow  a  little 
cottage  of  a  single  room.  In  this  dwelling  .she  applied 
herself  to  the  task  of  earning  a  living  for  herself  and  her 
children  by  her  needle  and  the  labours  of  a  little  school. 
She  is  represented  as  a  lady  of  graceful  and  com- 
manding presence,  spare,  ar»d  above  the  ordinary  heignt 
of  females,  and  of  a  comely  and  engaging  countenance. 
Her  mind  was  cultivated  and  intelligent ;  and  it  is 
probable  that  much  of  the  talent  of  her  children  was 
inherited  through  her.  Her  constitution  had  pulmonary 
tendencies,  which  were  evidently  entailed  on  her  dis- 
tinguished son.    Her  mind  was  sprightly  and  her  temper- 


HIS   MOTHEK.  15 

anient  mercurial,  at  one  time  rising  to  gaiety  under  the 
stimulus  of  social  enjoyment,  and  at  another,  sinking  to 
despondency,  under  the  pressure  of  her  troubles.  But 
her  character  was  crowned  with  unaffected  piety. '  While 
her  parentage  and  education  would  have  inclined  her  to 
the  Presbyterian  persuasion,  the  difficulty  of  reaching 
their  ministrations  caused  her  to  become  a  member  of 
the  Wesleyan  or  Methodist  communion*.  General  Jackson 
always  spoke  of  her  with  tender  affection,  and  traced  his 
first  sacred  impressions  to  her  lessons.  When  a  daughter 
was  born  to  him,  a  few  months  before  his  owa  sJeath,  he 
caused  it  to  be  baptised  with  his  mother's  name,  Julia 
Laura.  In  the  year  1830,  Mrs.  Jackson,  whose  youth  and 
beauty  still  fitted  her  to  please,  married  Mr.  Woodson, 
a  lawyer  of  Cumberland  county,  Virginia,  whom  the 
rising  importance  of  the  North- West  had  attracted,  along 
with  many  other  Eastern  Virginians,  to  that  country. 
He  was  a  sort  of  decayed  gentleman,  much  Mrs.  Jackson's 
senior,  a  widower,  without  property,  but  of  fair  char- 
acter and  of  a  popular  social  turn.  The  marriage  was 
distasteful  to  Mrs.  Jackson's  relations.  They  threatened, 
as  a  sort  of  penalty  for  it,  to  take  the  maintenance  and 
education  of  the  children  out  of  the  widow's  hands,  and 
offered  as  an  inducement  on  the  opposite  side,  liberal 
pecuniary  aid  if  she  would  continue  to  wear  her  first 
husband's  name.  But  love,  as  usual,  was  omnipotent. 
Upon  her  marriage  to  Mr.  Woodson,  his  scanty  resources 
compelled  her  to  accept  the  protection  of,  her  former  hus- 
band's kindred  for  her  children,  which  stoe  had  at  first  de- 
clined as  an  infliction.  The  second  husband's  professional 
succens  was  very  limited,  and  he  very  soon  accepted 
fr  '  '*  friend,  Judge  Duncan,  who  had  also  intermarried 
Tackson  family,  the  office  of  Clerk  of  the.  court 
vv  of  Fayette,  which  lies  on  the  New  river, 


16  HIS   MOTHER   DIES. 

west  of  Greenbrier.  After  one  year  of  married  life, 
Mrs.  Woodson's  constitution  sank  upon  giving  birth  to  a 
son  ;  she  died  two  months  after,  on  the  4th  of  December, 
1831,  and  her  remains  await  their  resurrection  not  far 
from  the  famous  Hawks  Nest,  of  New  rivet.  Her  hus- 
band announced  her  death  to  his  friends  in  these  words: 
"  No  christian  on  earth,  no  matter  what  evidence  he 
might  have  had  of  a  happy  hereafter,  could  have  died 
with  more  fortitude.  Perfectly  in  her  senses,  calm  and 
deliberate,  she  met  her  fate  without  a  murmur  or  a 
struggle.  Death  with  her  had  no  sting — the  grave  could 
claim  no  victory.  I  have  known  few  women  of  her 
equal,  none  of  superior  merit."  The  infant  thus  early 
bereaved  of  her  care,  lived  to  man's  estate,  and  died  of 
pulmonary  disease,  doubtless  inherited  from  his  mother, 
in  the  State  of  Missouri. 

Thomas,  then  seven  years  old,  with  his  brother  and 
sister,  had  been  sent  for  to  visit  his  mother  in  her 
sickness,  and  he  remained  to  witness  her  death.  To  his 
christian  friends  he  stated,  long  afterwards,  that  the 
wholesome  impression  of  her  dying  instructions  and 
prayers,  and  of  her  triumph  over  the  grave,  had  never 
been  erased  from  his  heart.  In  his  manly  years  he 
delighted  to  think  of  her  as  the  impersonation  of  sweet- 
ness, grace  and  beauty  ;  and  could  never  relate,  without 
tenderness,  the  events  of  his  departure  for  his  uncle's 
house,  when  she  had  him  mounted  behind  the  last  of  his 
father's  slaves,  "good  old  uncle Kobinson,"  and  recalled 
him  so  anxiously  to  give  the  last  touch  to  the  arrange- 
ments for  his  comfort. 

She  had  no  other  legacy  to  leave  him  than  those 
prayers ;  but  they  availed  to  shield  him  throug1  •** 

untoward  incidents  of  his  orphanage  and  his 
life,  and  they  were  answered  by  the  most  glr 


Hollinger  Corp. 
PH8.5 


